Page 28 of Finding Carly
“You’re mine,” he said in a low, rumbly voice that seemed to zing through every nerve ending in her body. “I don’t mean that in an asshole way. You’re mine as much as I’m yours. I want to make you happy, see you smile. I know I’m the lucky one in this relationship, and I swear not topurposelydo anything that will fuck it up.”
“Jag—” Carly started. But he pulled back a bit so he could look her in the eyes and kept talking.
“I haven’t ever minded that people sometimes cross the street rather than walk by me. I’ve actually cultivated that response. Believe it or not, I’m usually not even talkative. The guys give me shit about it all the time. But with you, I can’t seem to keep my mouth shut.”
Carly smiled. Loving that she had that kind of effect on him.
“You ready to head inside?”
It was an abrupt end to the discussion, but Carly had a suspicion Jag was feeling a bit awkward about all the touchy-feely talk. “Yeah.”
“Stay there. I’ll come around,” Jag ordered. He brushed his knuckles against her cheek, then turned to get out of the car.
Carly took a deep breath, trying to center herself. How in the world no other woman had caught his eye, she had no clue. But she liked the idea of him being hers. Liked that he talked to her more than he did anyone else. It made her feel different. Special. And it had been a very long time since she’d felt that way.
Her door opened and Jag was there with his hand out. Carly took it, and he didn’t let go as they started for the entrance to the food pantry. It wasn’t a terribly long walk, but Carly shivered thinking about making it by herself. She might have said she was independent, but right now she felt anything but.
“Cut yourself some slack, angel,” Jag said as if he could read her mind. “You’ll get there.”
She didn’t get a chance to respond because they’d arrived at the door to Food For All. Carly had heard all about how the front window was broken out by Theo when he’d seen someone inside robbing the place. But looking at it now, she’d never know any damage had been done.
“Oh my God! It’s Carly!” Lexie yelled out when she and Jag entered. As she headed their way, her gaze flicked to their hands before she smiled even wider. But she didn’t comment and instead hugged Carly.
She was aware of Jag taking a step back, but knew he wouldn’t go far.
Her reception was the same here as it had been back at Duke’s. Elodie came out from the back of the store and greeted her just as warmly. And to Carly’s surprise, Theo approached and briefly wrapped his arms around her as well. She’d met him a few times, but hadn’t expected him to hug her, especially after he’d practically looked through her at Kenna’s wedding.
“Hey, guys,” Carly said.
“You look good,” Lexie told her.
“It’s so nice to see you,” Elodie chimed in.
“Wanna see my new drawing?” Theo asked.
Everyone chuckled.
“I’d love to,” Carly told him.
He reached out and grabbed her hand and started towing her toward the kitchen. Carly saw Jag take a step forward, but Elodie stopped him. “I’ll go with them. She’s good, Jag.”
He didn’t respond verbally, just nodded. Carly could feel his gaze on her as she and Theo headed for the door to Elodie’s domain, the kitchen.
As they entered, Carly immediately saw the huge mural on the back wall. Theo had painted the inside of a fancy restaurant kitchen on the entire surface, which looked amazingly lifelike.
“Holy crap,” Carly muttered.
“Right?” Elodie said with a smile.
“I painted Elodie a kitchen,” Theo said proudly.
“Yes, you did,” Carly agreed. “And it’s marvelous.”
She could practically see Theo’s chest puff out with pride. And heshouldbe proud; what he’d painted was so realistic, she expected the scowling head chef in the corner to start barking out orders any second. There were sous chefs bent over dishes, plating them in one section, and in another, a large flame was shooting up from a pan over a gas burner on a stove. He’d captured the chaos and excitement and beauty of a fancy restaurant kitchen perfectly.
“I showed him some pictures,” Elodie said. “And he wanted to know all about the restaurants I’d worked at in the past. What went on and how many people were cooking, things like that. We talked about it for a week straight, then he didn’t ask any other questions. I thought it was just a passing curiosity for him. Apparently he’d talked with Lexie, and they arranged for him to come in one afternoon after I left. It took him almost all night, but when I came in the next morning, this is what I walked into.”
“It’s seriously amazing,” Carly said with a smile.
